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Death of 26 Children

Order issued to nab Rid bosses

Govt's first legal step comes over a month after first death following paracetamol syrup intake

Chaitanya Chandra Halder and Mahbuba Zannat
A Dhaka court yesterday issued arrest warrants against the managing director of Rid Pharma Ltd, its two directors and two pharmacists after the government filed a case accusing them of manufacturing drugs that lacked specified standards.
A total of 26 children died across the country during the last month and a half due to renal failures, most of which were caused by intake of Rid s paracetamol syrup that contained poisonous chemicals.
This is the first legal step the government has taken against Rid.
"The government was rather slow in responding to the situation, while kids were dying. It took about a month to ban sale of the poisonous medicine and to order its withdrawal from the market. It is sad,” one of the many worried parents in the capital told the Daily Star last night.
The accused in the case are Rid Pharma MD Mizanur Rahman, directors Sheuli Rahman, also Mizanur's wife, Abdul Gani and Rid s
pharmacists Mahbubul Islam and Enamul Haque. A case against them was filed in Brahmanbaria as well.
Three other cases were filed against Rid in Comilla. Narayanganj and Sylhet.
Judge Golam Mortuza Majumder of the Drug Court issued the warrants after Drug Superintendent Shafiqul Islam filed the case with the court yesterday.
In his complaint, Shafiqul Islam said several children died at Shishu Hospital of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the city due to renal failure after given the paracetamol syrup of Rid.
He said the government realised the seriousness of the matter and published advertisements in national dailies asking all not to take any syrups manufactured by the company.
The government also had Temset and Ridaplex syrups of the company tested at the Drug Testing Laboratory of the Public Health Institute at Mohakhali, the complainant said.
The test results concluded that the drugs lacked standards specified for manufacturing those.
Talking toThe Daily Star Director of the Drug
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Administration Brig Gen Ismail Hossain said four cases have been Tiled with the drug courts against Rid Pharma in Sylhet. Brahmanbaria. £ Comilla and Narayanganj.
Another case will be Tiled under the Special Powers Act next week after consultation with the ministries of law and home affairs, he added.
On July 22, the Drug Administration sealed off Rid s factory in Brahmanbaria BSC1C area in connection with 24 deaths of children upon the intake of Rid s drugs. Some 34 children with acute renal failure were admitted to Dhaka Shishu Hospital and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Hospital during the last one and a half months, all of whom were given Rid's drugs.
Prof Hanif. head of the department of Paediatric Nephrology of Dhaka Shishu Hospital, first noticed that the number of patients there with renal failures was on the rise. He collected information and samples of the paracetamol . syrup from patients' parents and tested them in a private laboratory, which found the presence of a poisonous substance in the syrup.
The authorities of Dhaka Shishu Hospital later informed the Directorate General of Health Services of the matter. The government formed a seven-member investigation committee on July21.
After examining 300 samples of the paracetamol and vitamin syrups of 10 companies. the probe committee on July 29 reconfirmed the presence of poisonous Diethylene
Glycol in Rid's paracetamol syrup.
It also revealed that Rid Pharma used Diethylene Glycol, meant for tannery and rubber industries, instead of Propylene Glycol since Diethylene Glycol is cheaper. Diethylene Glycol costs Tk 200 per litre while Propylene Glycol costs Tk 1,100.
Sources in the drug regulatory authorities said Rid Pharma received drugmanufacturing licence in 2006 and started marketing 12 drugs. Even though it only had permit for manufacturing paracetamol suspensions, it started producing paracetamol syrups in the package of paracetamol suspensions.
In 1992, at least 339 children died after taking toxic paracetamol. The government had then cancelled registrations of five pharmaceutical companies.
But the fact is poor monitoring of the drug market allows unscrupulous businessmen to adulterate medicine, experts say.
They, however, said taking action against only one pharmaceutical company is not enough since there are many companies producing spurious and low-quality drugs.
Prof Hanif said, "The government should enact a com-prehensive law against adulterated and spurious drugs since manufacturing and marketing of drugs involve different ministries such as commerce, home, health and customs departments. If there is no comprehensive law for controlling toxic materials, such incidents may take place again."